Analysts Have Made A Financial Statement On Metro AG's (ETR:B4B) Half-Year Report

Shareholders might have noticed that Metro AG (ETR:B4B) filed its half-yearly result this time last week. The early response was not positive, with shares down 2.5% to €4.92 in the past week. Metro reported in line with analyst predictions, delivering revenues of €15b and statutory earnings per share of €1.21, suggesting the business is executing well and in line with its plan. Earnings are an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance, look at what the analysts are forecasting for next year, and see if there's been a change in sentiment towards the company. So we gathered the latest post-earnings forecasts to see what estimates suggest is in store for next year.

View our latest analysis for Metro

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Following last week's earnings report, Metro's nine analysts are forecasting 2024 revenues to be €31.1b, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Metro is also expected to turn profitable, with statutory earnings of €0.22 per share. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of €31.1b and earnings per share (EPS) of €0.17 in 2024. There was no real change to the revenue estimates, but the analysts do seem more bullish on earnings, given the great increase in earnings per share expectations following these results.

There's been no major changes to the consensus price target of €5.93, suggesting that the improved earnings per share outlook is not enough to have a long-term positive impact on the stock's valuation. There's another way to think about price targets though, and that's to look at the range of price targets put forward by analysts, because a wide range of estimates could suggest a diverse view on possible outcomes for the business. The most optimistic Metro analyst has a price target of €9.50 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at €4.00. This is a fairly broad spread of estimates, suggesting that analysts are forecasting a wide range of possible outcomes for the business.

These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the Metro's past performance and to peers in the same industry. It's pretty clear that there is an expectation that Metro's revenue growth will slow down substantially, with revenues to the end of 2024 expected to display 3.4% growth on an annualised basis. This is compared to a historical growth rate of 4.5% over the past five years. By way of comparison, the other companies in this industry with analyst coverage are forecast to grow their revenue at 4.6% per year. Factoring in the forecast slowdown in growth, it seems obvious that Metro is also expected to grow slower than other industry participants.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing here is that the analysts upgraded their earnings per share estimates, suggesting that there has been a clear increase in optimism towards Metro following these results. Fortunately, the analysts also reconfirmed their revenue estimates, suggesting that it's tracking in line with expectations. Although our data does suggest that Metro's revenue is expected to perform worse than the wider industry. The consensus price target held steady at €5.93, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on their price targets.

Following on from that line of thought, we think that the long-term prospects of the business are much more relevant than next year's earnings. We have estimates - from multiple Metro analysts - going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here.

Plus, you should also learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Metro .

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.